Chapter Eight – Matthew

Not only had he given a sackload of money toward the shelter because his mate loved volunteering there, but now he was offering to give up the house he’d just bought.

All for a woman.

If anyone had told him this is what he’d be doing when he came to Bear Creek, he’d have laughed in their faces and told them they did not know him well at all. But then nobody did know him. He’d shut everyone out when he shut down his emotions long ago. Work had been his mantra; hard work had been his ethic.

Now he’d met Sian and all that had changed. He’d changed. If she asked him to, he’d give away his whole fortune. Although, he’d rather spend it on his mate and her children, and that damn animal shelter if he had to.

“You don’t have to give me an answer now. Think about it.” He skewered a piece of pasta with his fork and ate it, savoring the taste. “This is delicious.”

“Thanks,” Sian answered quietly, while her daughters exchanged glances.

“So what have you been doing since you came to Bear Creek?” Rachel asked, mature enough to steer the conversation into calmer waters.

“I’ve been getting to know the town and some of the people in it.” He bit into a piece of garlic bread and practically drooled. His woman knew how to cook, and after a life living on room service and restaurant meals, he was ready for a life sitting around the family table. “Today I went to the hardware store and met the owner. Gus helped me pick out the tools I need to work on the property.” He looked up, a sudden thought hitting him. “The old house needs a name. I know everyone calls it Jeremiah’s old house, but it’s mine now.”

“Oh, can we help name it?” Ella asked excitedly.

“Sure.” Matthew smiled a nice wide, genuine smile.

“Are you keeping the house?” Sian asked. “Only that might determine what you call it.”

“I didn’t plan to when I bought it,” he admitted. “But the more work I do on the old place the more I like it. The view of the mountains is one of the best in the area. And the back trails lead through the lower hills and into the mountains without having to take a step on the road.”

“Sounds as if you’ve fallen in love with the place,” Ella said, leaning forward. “So what are you going to call it?”

“What about something with bear in the name?” Rachel asked, and Sian stopped eating, her fork halfway to her mouth.

Matthew glanced at her nervously. Did they know about shifters?

“What did you have in mind?” Matthew asked, keeping his tone level.

“Bear’s Rest.” Rachel nodded happily at her own idea.

“That sounds like an inn or a hotel,” Ella challenged.

“I like it,” Matthew admitted. “It seems somehow appropriate.”

“In what way?” Sian asked, her interest piqued.

“Because for the first time in my life I think I’m ready to settle down. Which is kind of new for me since I’ve never had a place to call home before.” Matthew kept his eyes focused on his plate even though he could hardly resist the urge to look at Sian for her response.

“You must have had a home. When you were a child? With your mom and dad?” Ella finished her pasta and clasped her hands around her arms as the heat from the oven completely dissipated into the freezing cold kitchen.

“I never knew my parents,” Matthew had never shared his story with anyone before. It was no one else’s business. His story was part of him. Not something he ever opened up about.

“Never?” Rachel asked appalled.

“No. They died in a car crash when I was a baby.” He’d never realized what he’d missed until he saw Sian with her daughters. They were a family, even if there was no husband and father around.

“Who raised you?” Sian asked.

“My uncle.” Matthew gave a small laugh. “He only agreed to take me in because I came with a house and an income.”

“But he raised you all the same.” Ella’s voice was no more than a whisper.

“He raised me because that was the condition of my parents’ will. But raising a child can be interpreted in many ways.” At night, lying in bed alone, in that place between awake and asleep, he could still hear his uncle’s raised voice as he rained blows down on his sister’s child. “He wasn’t a kind man.”

“But I thought that family was...” Sian furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to convey some kind of message. Then he understood, Ella and Rachel didn’t know about shifters.

Well, that’s going to be an interesting conversation, his bear said sagely.

It also means they don’t know how much their mom means to me. He looked from one girl to the other. Even without that knowledge, they had accepted him into their home.

“My uncle was my mom’s brother. I have my father’s genes.” Matthew saw the understanding in Sian’s expression.

“So he didn’t have the same instinct to protect his nephew.” She raised her wine glass to her lips and took a gulp. “That’s terrible.”

“It made me the man I am,” he admitted. “Or the man I was.”

“Did you kick him out of your house when you were old enough to inherit?” Rachel asked as she, too, finished her pasta.

“No. By the time I was old enough to inherit, there was nothing left. My uncle never did have a work ethic.” Matthew laughed as he saw their appalled faces. “I can see you’ll invite me to dinner again since I tell such happy family stories.”

Sian got up from the table and her hand brushed against him as she collected the plates. A surge of warmth swept through him. A sense of home.

“What did you do?” Ella asked gently.

Matthew jerked his attention away from thoughts of Sian. Away from the realization that anywhere she was, he’d be home. A lump formed in his throat and he coughed to clear it before he spoke. “I resolved to never be reliant on another person again. I worked hard at whatever job I could get until I finally ended up on a construction site. The hours were long, the work was hard, but the money I earned meant I could save up for a house of my own.”

“So you did have a home,” Rachel said, leaning back in her chair almost triumphantly.

“My first house was a two-bedroom dilapidated shack which I renovated and sold for a profit.” He gave a wry smile. “I then bought another dilapidated shack and repeated the process.”

“You should be proud of yourself,” Sian told him. “You did what most people could never do. You made it on your own.”

“Once I started, I was scared to stop,” he admitted. “Scared someone would come along and take it all away from me. So I fought for each penny, I bargained and hustled until that’s all I knew how to do.”

“You do have a reputation,” Sian said as she set the cake down on the table along with four plates.

“A reputation of buying the best chocolate dessert in the store,” Ella said with a warning look at her mom.

Sian let a smile play over her lips. “That is one reputation that goes a long way in this house.”

His mate cut the cake and passed the plates around. The conversation shifted to school and the holidays which were right around the corner.

“Mary-Anne says when it gets really cold, the creek freezes and you can ice skate on it,” Ella announced. “I don’t think I’ve ever ice skated, have I?”

“No, you haven’t,” Sian confirmed.

“So if the creek freezes this year, can we go?” Ella asked.

“We don’t have ice skates,” Rachel reminded her sister and backed it up with a subtle look that Matthew saw, but Sian did not as she spooned a mouthful of cake into her mouth.

Ella sighed and let the subject drop. “That was a delicious cake, Matthew. Thank you.”

“Thank you for your company. I have not eaten a home-cooked meal for... I can’t remember.” He stood up and said, “Can I help with the dishes?”

“You can,” Sian agreed. “Although I didn’t know if you knew how to do dishes.”

“I must admit I live off room service and restaurants.” He rolled his sleeves up. “But I am always willing to try something once.”

“Does that mean we can go and sit in the living room?” Rachel asked. “I have homework to finish up.” She gritted her teeth together to stop them from chattering.

“Go ahead,” Sian said.

“First, I’m going to put an extra sweater on.” She left the kitchen and Ella followed.

“Thanks for dinner, Mom. And thanks for doing the dishes, Matthew.” Ella winked and bolted for the living room.

“It was Ella’s turn to do the dishes,” Sian explained.

“Ah, so I’ve made a good first impression.” Matthew picked up a wine glass and dried it before placing it carefully on the counter.

“I think you did that last night.” Sian looked over her shoulder and pressed her lips together, a troubled look crossing her eyes.

“What?” he asked, adding another wine glass to his growing collection of dried dishes.

“I can’t figure you out.”

“Is that a good thing?” He tilted his chin. “There’s nothing wrong with a little mystery in our lives.”

She smiled despite herself. “I don’t want mystery. I want straightforward. I want openness.”

He dried his hands and placed them on her back, trying to reassure her, as she stared down at the soap suds. “I can give you whatever you want.”

When she looked at him, her eyes shone brightly with tears. “I don’t know what I want.”

“Then we’ll find out together.” He moved his hands higher and placed them on her shoulders. Turning her to face him, he said, “This is new for me. I had a path that I thought I was traveling on. At my age, I figured mates and families were something that had passed me by.” He gave a wry smile. “I’ve never told anyone this before, but part of me thought it was a punishment for my past behavior in business. Don’t worry, I know exactly what people say about me.”

“And is it true?” Sian asked, her eyes meeting his.

He nodded, a sadness covering him. “I shut my feelings and emotions away. I learned to keep my eyes fixed firmly on my end goal and each time I reached it, I moved it further away. Because what else was there?”

“I’m sorry. About your uncle.” Sian reached up and stroked his cheek. “It breaks my heart to think of a small boy alone in the world.”

“I’m not alone now.” He turned his head and kissed her fingers.

“Subtle.” Her breasts rose heavily, and her eyes dilated as they fixed on his mouth. If he was reading the signs right, she wanted him to kiss her.

Was he reading the signs right? Matthew was an expert at reading body language in a boardroom, but not that of the woman who was his mate.

To hell with it. He lowered his head and captured her lips with his, Sian sighed against him and circled his neck with her arms. She tasted of garlic and tomatoes and he savored every moment of their first kiss.

Then, she jumped back as if his touch had shocked her. “Sorry,” she whispered.

He looked up as the sound of footsteps bounding down the stairs reached him through the fog of desire in his brain. “No problem.”

Sian plunged her hands in the water and cursed lightly. “The water is cold. I’ll have to boil the kettle again.”

“Listen, I wasn’t joking about house swapping. You can go live in my house, as long as you don’t mind me being there during the day to fix the place up. Then I’ll come back here and sleep.” He shrugged. “I honestly don’t mind. And in some ways, you’ll be doing me a favor.”

“How do you figure that?” she asked as she put the kettle on to boil.

“Think of it as me making amends for all my past actions.” He nodded in encouragement. “I’m trying to trade my bad deeds for good ones.”

“I see.”

“Come on. Help a guy out,” he pleaded.

“Us swapping houses will honestly make you feel better?” Sian asked, leaning back on the counter and studying him closely.

“Yes.” He pointed the spoon he’d just finished drying at her. “And think about it. You want to open your pet salon at the shelter. You won’t have to travel back and forth from Bear Creek to get there.”

“Okay, enough of the hard sell.” She looked around the kitchen and then closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You accept?” He cracked a smile. Victory had never tasted sweeter.

“I accept.” She poked him in the chest. “But only until the boiler is fixed. I know your reputation, Matthew Lewis. You are devious.”

He chuckled. “You mean the way I’ve moved you into my house as if I was doing you a favor?”

He dodged the wet dishcloth she threw at him. “I could always change my mind.”

“Don’t,” he said seriously. “You can’t stay here, it’s freezing. And if we get the snowfall they predict, the animals will need you close by.”

“What about you?”

“I have four paws. I can trek out to the house.” He picked up the next plate to dry. “Although Gus at the hardware store had a point when he said I needed a truck. My car is built for comfort, but these mountain roads need a bigger beast.”

“Are you talking about yourself?” Sian asked.

“Funny. Although I am a big beast.” She blushed at his words and he burst out laughing. “I meant my broad shoulders. Not anything else.”

“You’re going to need broad shoulders if you want us in your life.” Sian drained the sink and dried her hands. “Do you really know what you are getting yourself into?”

“No, I don’t think I do and for a man who is used to planning everything meticulously down to the last detail, that’s scary.” He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her close. “But you know what?”

She shook her head as she rested it on his chest.

“I don’t care.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Coming here, meeting you has made me feel alive. And I want to share it all with you.”